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Xu Huang
Xu Huang (rōmaji: Jyō Kō) is a general who willingly defected to Cao Cao. Humble and honest with his troops, he was well liked for his old-fashioned geniality. He participated in several of his lord's campaigns, but it was his excellent service at Fan Castle which garnered Cao Cao's trust and gratitude. Historically, Cao Cao warmly praised Xu Huang to match Zhou Yafu's character. After his death, he has been praised as one of the Five Generals of Wei. Romance of the Three Kingdoms states he wielded a giant axe and that he once dueled Guan Yu in Jing Province. In the Dynasty Warriors series, he is 33 years old and his height is 185 cm (close to 6'1"). Gamecity's Dynasty Warriors 7 character popularity poll has him at forty-eighth place. The height for his Kessen II counterpart is 175 cm (almost 5'9"). Role in GamesEdit :"Those guys just got poleaxed!" ::―Mitsunari Ishida; Warriors Orochi Dynasty WarriorsEdit Xu Huang is a warrior who is on a continuous path for strength. He starts serving Wei sometime after the Allied Forces against Dong Zhuo disband. He acts as one of the generals present at Guan Du and usually appears in the following conflicts against Liu Bei and Sun Quan. One of his shining moments of service is his defense of Fan Castle. There, he challenges his friend and enemy, Guan Yu. Xu Huang lives to participate in the final conflicts for the series. His Legend Mode in Dynasty Warriors 4: Xtreme Legends has him hurry to aid Cao Ren's forces at Fan Castle. Surrounded by Guan Yu's army in the west, Xu Huang appears from the south and leads an offensive assault. He bids Cao Ren to leave the castle's defense to him and strikes back against the impending siege weapons. If he successfully depends the castle, his ally will join him on the defense and Guan Yu will be forced to join the fray. Upon meeting the enemy commander, Guan Yu expresses the regret he feels fighting a friend but is interested in clashing blades with him. Xu Huang answers in kind and the two generals fight with earnest. The latter slays the former to claim victory. In Dynasty Warriors 5, Xu Huang first served Yang Feng during the Yellow Turban Rebellion. After Dong Zhuo's downfall, he served Emperor Xian. When the emperor fled, Xu Huang escorted him to Luo Yang and met Cao Cao. Cao Cao becomes impressed with Xu Huang and offers him service, which the warrior accepts. His first battle under his new master is Guan Du, in which he befriends Guan Yu. They part ways after the battle and Xu Huang continues serving Cao Cao's campaigns. After Wei loses Chi Bi and they conquer Tong Gate, Xu Huang rushes to Cao Ren's rescue at Fan Castle and the events remain similar to his previous Legend Mode. Xu Huang strikes Guan Yu down as his most worthy adversary and serves Cao Pi's reign after Cao Cao passes away. He shares his Legend Mode in the Xtreme Legends expansion with Sima Yi and Cao Pi, as the trio works together to punish the traitor, Meng Da, at Xin Castle. He has stationed himself within the castle's walls and doesn't budge, causing his men to decline towards mutiny. Xu Huang, though weakened with illness, charges into battle to destroy the traitor in honor of his departed friend and lord. As the dust settles, he swears to continue serving Wei until his dying days. Dynasty Warriors 6 has him continue being a major general at Fan Castle, defending the southern gate from several generals. He also appears at Chi Bi and imparts inspirational words to a curious Zhang Liao. When Sima Yi defects against Cao Cao in Xu Chang, Xu Huang joins the strategist's side of the battle. Finding his former master to be a worthy challenge for his prowess, he arrives in the northern-west corner of the map. Xu Huang acts as a supporting general throughout Wei's Story Mode in Dynasty Warriors 7, first appearing in Guan Du. He rallies the men to keep up their morale and stays close to Cao Cao throughout the battle. Afterwards, he can be seen in ally ranks at Chi Bi, Tong Gate, and Fan Castle. He arrives during the second half to offer new troops for the cause. To allow Xiahou Dun the chance to strike down Guan Yu, Xu Huang offers to protect Xiang Yang for the army. During Shu's version of Fan Castle, he is one of the defenders with Cao Ren. He also appears as a persistent Wei general in Wu's Nan Jun. His first Legendary Mode takes place before his service to Wei, in which he valiantly works together with Cao Cao's generals to protect the emperor from Dong Zhuo and Yuan Shao's greedy clutches. Xu Huang spars against several famed generals known for their war-like spirit for his second Legendary Mode. By doing so, he hopes to fine tune his own skills and strengths as a warrior. Cao Cao invites Xu Huang for a friendly sparring match between his retainers in his third Legendary Mode. The Xtreme Legends expansion adds a Hero Scenario centered on Xu Huang. As Cao Cao attempts to conquer Yuan Shao in the north, Yuan Shu and Liu Bei leads troops in rebellion in the south at Xuzhou. If their activities are neglected for too long, they could be burdensome. Therefore, Cao Cao hails for a counteroffensive. Xu Huang is among the generals sent to suppress them, and he follows Guo Jia's leadership. Xu Huang proceeds by taking the enemy garrisons to make way for a construction unit. To defend the ally main camp, he consequently beats Liu Bei, Zhang Fei, and Zhang He, who leads reinforcements sent by Yuan Shao. As the enemy main camp lies with its defenses broken, Xu Huang duels Guan Yu. Never one to pass up the opportunity of acquiring spectacular talent, Guo Jia inquires for Guan Yu's submission while in the midst of fighting Xu Huang. The sworn brother would rather prepare himself for death, yet stalls due to worrying about the safety of his brother's wives. Seeking to additionally match blades with Xu Huang again, Guan Yu lays down his blade and swears his surrender to the "Han Dynasty". Xu Huang (Born: 169 Died 227), style name Gongming, was a military general serving under the warlord Cao Cao in the late Eastern Han Dynasty. He subsequently served the state of Cao Wei, founded by Cao Cao's successor Cao Pi, during the Three Kingdoms period. Xu Huang is best noted for breaking the siege at the Battle of Fancheng in 219 by routing the enemy commander Guan Yu on the field. Chen Shou, the author of the Records of the Three Kingdoms, considered Xu Huang among the Five Elite Generals of Cao Cao, together with Zhang Liao, Yue Jin, Zhang He and Yu Jin. Biography Early life and service under Yang Feng Born in the county of Yang (present day Hedong, Shanxi) in the late years of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Xu Huang worked as a local clerk in his youth. He became a subordinate of Yang Feng from the White Wave Bandits (originally a sect of Yellow Turban rebels that rose up in Xu Huang's hometown in Shanxi), after the bandits raided Hedong and Taiyuan (太原) in 188. Over the years, the leaders of the White Wave Bandits had been holding different attitudes toward the central government, and Yang Feng submitted to Dong Zhuo. Xu Huang later followed Yang Feng to quell some remnants of the Yellow Turban rebels, and was appointed a Cavalry Commandant (騎都尉) by the Han court under the Liang Province faction led by Dong Zhuo. The successors of Dong Zhuo were Li Jue and Guo Si, but the two regents had grown suspicious of each other and started warring within the streets of the capital. At the time, Yang Feng and Xu Huang were subordinates of Li Jue. In 195, Xu Huang joined a plot against Li Jue, he convinced Yang Feng to help escort Emperor Xian from Chang'an back to Luoyang, which by then was much dilapidated. There, Yang Feng and Dong Cheng's rivalry had led the latter to summon Cao Cao. Early the next year, Cao Cao came personally without resistance, and he moved the emperor to his secured base in Xuchang. Xu Huang then prompted Yang Feng to join Cao Cao's forces, and Yang nearly heeded the advice but refused at last. Cao Cao soon attacked Yang Feng, whereupon Xu Huang switched his allegiance to the aggressor. Performance in Cao Cao's northern campaign Hereafter Xu Huang participated in most major campaigns Cao Cao undertook, including offensives against Lü Bu, Yuan Shao, Tadun, Sun Quan, and Ma Chao. Xu Huang performed well in all of them except in the Battle of Jiangling in 208. During the Battle of Guandu in 200, Yuan Shao had been storing supplies at a depot in the village of Gushi (southwest of present-day Yanjin County, Henan); Xu Huang, along Shi Huan (史渙), were sent to attack this position. They defeated the defenders, and burned Yuan's grain carts, forcing Yuan to call for relief supplies in response to this raid. A few years later, Xu Huang joined the follow-up operation against Yuan Shao's heirs. In 203, the defender of Yiyang (易阳), Han Fan (韩范), feigned surrender and strengthened his town. Xu Huang then wrote a letter of persuasion and had it fired into the city on an arrow. The defender was hence won over and Xu Huang conquered the city without bloodshed. Interestingly, it was recorded in the Records of the Three Kingdoms that Xu Huang went to Cao Cao and asked the latter to refrain from massacring the residents of Yiyang only after Han Fan did surrender, and the rationale of their final decision was entirely based on tactical consideration, which was to soften other defending cities by setting up an example. Battles against Sun Quan and western warlords In 208, Xu Huang followed Cao Cao to pacify Jing Province, and was supposed to participate in the Battle of Red Cliffs in the same year. When Cao Cao retreated north after his defeat at Red Cliffs, Xu Huang was ordered to stay behind with Cao Ren in Jiangling to resist Sun Quan's counteroffensive. In one occasion during the Battle of Jiangling, the enemy commander, Zhou Yu, left the defence of his main camp to his subordinate, Ling Tong, and led most of the troops to rescue another subject, Gan Ning, who was surrounded by Cao Ren's cavalry in a distant castle. Even Ling Tong was left with only a wee fraction of the army to guard the camp, the numerically superior Xu Huang and Cao Ren were unable to surpass their much younger opponent and the enemy camps remained intact. As a result, a yearlong vigorous fighting followed and the casualty on Cao Cao side became enormous, so Xu and Cao Ren finally abandoned Jiangling and retreated north. After continuous setback in the south, Cao Cao turned his attention to Liang Province in the northwest, and provoked the Battle of Tong Pass. Knowing the nominal leader of the coalition of Liang Province warlords (also called the Guanxi coalition), Han Sui, did not leave any troops guarding the shallow of Puban, Xu Huang suggested to Cao Cao to send him north and cross the Yellow River via the Puban Ford (浦阪津) to circumvent Tong Pass from the west of the river. Cao Cao assented to Xu Huang's plan, and sent Zhu Ling to go with him. They crossed Puban and started pitching camps, but before the defence fortification was completed, one of the coalition members, Liang Xing, scouted them. Instead of asking his allies for reinforcement, Liang Xing attacked right away, but was routed in the end. Xu Huang and Zhu Ling then impelled the pace to complete the defense, and waited for the arrival of the main forces. However, the discovery of Xu Huang's presence had alerted the coalition forces and created a serious crisis for Cao Cao's crossing of the river. In 215, Xu Huang was tasked with defending Hanzhong's communication line, Mamingge (馬鳴閣), under the command of Xiahou Yuan to halt the advances of Liu Bei's army. When Liu Bei sent his general Chen Shi in an attempt to sever the supply routes to the city, Xu Huang struck the enemy head-on. Due to Xu Huang's ferocious attack, many enemy soldiers jumped off the cliff, and the casualty was high enough to keep Hanzhong secure for the time being. Defeating Guan Yu Xu Huang's most glorious moment in his military career came in the Battle of Fancheng in 219. When Fancheng (a district of present-day Xiangfan, Hubei) was besieged by Guan Yu and the first relief force led by Yu Jin was vanquished by a natural disaster, Xu Huang was sent with a second relief force to help protect the city. Knowing that most of his soldiers were composed of new recruits without training, Xu Huang did not go into battle straight away but camped behind the enemy to impose a deterrent effect. Meanwhile, he instructed his men to dig trenches around the nearby enemy city of Yancheng (偃城) in a pretense to cut off supplies into the city. The enemies were deceived and abandoned their position, yielding Xu Huang a foothold on the battlefield. By this time, a total of twelve camps had been gathered under the flag of Xu Huang. With the strengthened army, Xu Huang finally unleashed an attack on Guan Yu's camp. Guan Yu personally led 5,000 horsemen to meet the attackers, but was eventually outmatched. Many of his soldiers were forced into the nearby Han River and drowned. The siege on Fancheng was then lifted. When Cao Cao heard of the victory, he praised Xu Huang and compared the general to Sun Wu and Tian Rangju¹. Upon Xu Huang's return, Cao Cao went three kilometres out of Xuchang to greet him, giving him full credits for securing Fancheng. Throughout the field reception, the soldiers of other commanders shifted about in order to get a better view of Cao Cao, but Xu Huang's men stood stationary in neat files. Seeing this, Cao Cao lauded, "General Xu has truly inherited the style of Zhou Yafu." Service under Cao Pi and Cao Ruiedit Following Cao Cao's death in March 220, his son Cao Pi succeeded him and inherited his vassal king title as the King of Wei (魏王).45 Xu Huang continued to be heavily trusted by Cao Pi, and he was appointed General of the Right (右將軍) and enfeoffed as the Marquis of Lu District (逯鄉侯).46 In late 220, Cao Pi usurped the throne from Emperor Xian, ended the Eastern Han dynasty, and established the state of Cao Wei (or Wei) with himself as the new emperor.45 After his coronation, Cao Pi promoted Xu Huang from a district marquis to a county marquis under the title "Marquis of Yang" (楊侯).47 Later, Cao Pi ordered Xu Huang and Xiahou Shang to lead an army to attack Shangyong Commandery (上庸郡; in present-day northwestern Hubei). After completing his mission, Xu Huang moved to the garrison at Yangping County (陽平縣; present-day Shen County, Shandong), so his marquis title was changed to "Marquis of Yangping" (陽平侯).Category:Characters Category:Confederate Officers edit] Death After Cao Cao's death in 220, Xu Huang continued to be heavily trusted by Cao Cao's successor Cao Pi. He was appointed General of the Right (右將軍) and Marquis of Yangping (陽平侯). When Cao Pi's successor Cao Rui took over in 227, he sent Xu Huang to defend Xiangyang against the Eastern Wu invasion. However, Xu Huang died in the same year due to illness, leaving behind a will demanding a burial in plain clothes. He was given the posthumous title of "Marquis Zhuang" (壯侯), literally meaning "robust marquis". Cao Pi died in 226 and was succeeded by his son Cao Rui as the emperor of Wei. During that time, Xu Huang successfully repelled an invasion on Xiangyang by the Wu general Zhuge Jin. For his contributions, he was awarded another 200 taxable households in his marquisate, bringing the total number to 3,100.50 When Xu Huang became seriously ill later, he gave instructions that he was to be given a simple burial after his death. He died in 227 and was granted the posthumous title "Marquis Zhuang" (壯侯), which literally means "robust marquis".51 Xu Huang's son, Xu Gai (徐蓋), inherited his father's peerage as the Marquis of Yangping. After Xu Gai died, his son Xu Ba (徐霸) succeeded him as the next Marquis of Yangping. Cao Rui later divided their marquisate and awarded marquis titles to two descendants of Xu Huang. Appraisaledit Chen Shou concluded Xu Huang's biography in the Sanguozhi with a brief appraisal: "Xu Huang led a humble and simple life and he was very self-disciplined. When he went into battle and realised he could not win, he would still encourage his men to fight on in pursuit of glory and they did not rest or have meals until they had won. He often sighed: 'The people in the past complained that they did not have a chance to meet and serve a wise lord. Now, I am privileged to have encountered one, so I should do my best to serve him instead of seeking to increase my personal fame!' He did not maintain a wide social network throughout his life." edit] Descendants Xu Huang's titles were inherited by his son Xu Gai (徐蓋) after his death. When Xu Gai died, the titles were inherited by his son, Xu Ba (徐霸). Cao Rui granted the titles of marquises to Xu Gai and Xu Ba and placed some households under their control. Category:Characters